who is ellen whiteG and why is she so important in the seventh day Adventist church.

Am a new believer in the seventhday adventist church, am considering baptism very soon. I hear people in church talk about ellen white and I dont understand who she is. Who is this person, and what role does she play in the adventist church.
I have not had a chance to read her books. Can you please members help me to understand her more?
God bless you all.

Replies to This Discussion

In the book of Revelation, we are given the characteristics of the Remnant church (Rev 12:17) they keep the commandments of God & have the testimony of Jesus. Rev 19:10 then tells us that the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy. Amos also tells that the Lord surely does nothing unless He reveals it to His servants, the prophets. The SDA Church believes that the Gift of prophecy in these last days was manifest in the ministry of Ellen G. White. She was indeed the Lord's messenger & her visions, instructions & writings have built & grounded the church in the Word of God. I should mention that the Gift of prophecy is one of the fundamental beliefs of the SDA Church, which you should study in Baptismal class. God has had prophets for His people in every age, this age is no exception as we need to prepare for our Lord's soon return. I would like to recommend to you that you read her writings, collectively known as Spirit of prophecy, especially The Conflict of the Ages Series, particularly the Great Controversy. You'll agree with me that you can never be the same after reading the inspired writings, as they uphold the Bible as the infallible standard of God. God bless you.

The best thing to do is get her books and read them. You might begin with Steps To Christ, Desire of Ages, and the Great Controversy.

I would be interested in knowing what you learned in the Bible studies you took in order to prepare for baptism. Are people, such as the pastor, preparing you? What are they teaching you on this topic? Have they suggested that you read Ellen White's books, or perhaps even given you Steps To Christ to study and read? If they haven't done this, they should do it.

Learn about her life. Was she a true Christian? How did her life demonstrate that she loved Jesus and lived for God?

If I were you, I would study her and join the church only if you are at least open to the possibility that she was a true prophet of God. If she was not a true prophet of God, there would be something terribly wrong with the SDA church, because it would mean the church was co-founded and led by a false prophet. You really need to settle this in your mind BEFORE joining the church.

But the main point is that you shouldn't believe she was a prophet or not a prophet on the basis of what other people tell you. That means studying her writings for yourself and comparing them with Scripture. Do her writings draw your closer to Christ and help you in your spiritual walk with Christ?

am already convinced that this church is the right place to be. My friend`s character and way of living played a big part towards my conversion I just wanted to know more about that lady, but whatever the case if I know her or not still am going to be baptised very soon.
I already made up my mind.

If you will go back up to Malaika Noe's comments of June 8 I believe that you will see where Ellen White was one of the founders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. We believe that one of the characteristics of the "Remnant Church" is the "Spirit of Prophecy".. We also believe that this requirement was filled by Ellen G. White and her counsel. IMO if you do not believe her writings and are not interested in the counsel that she gave there is no reason for you to be a Seventh-day Adventist. 'nuff sed

In brief, she was a woman of remarkable spiritual gifts who lived most of her life during the nineteenth century (1827-1915), yet through her writings she is still making a revolutionary impact on millions of people around the world. During her lifetime she wrote more than 5,000 periodical articles and 40 books; but today, including compilations from her 50,000 pages of manuscript, more than 100 titles are available in English. She is the most translated woman writer in the entire history of literature, and the most translated American author of either gender. Her writings cover a broad range of subjects, including religion, education, social relationships, evangelism, prophecy, publishing, nutrition, and management. Her life-changing masterpiece on successful Christian living, Steps to Christ, has been published in more than 140 languages. Seventh-day Adventists believe that Mrs. White was more than a gifted writer; they believe she was appointed by God as a special messenger to draw the world's attention to the Holy Scriptures and help prepare people for Christ's second advent. From the time she was 17 years old until she died 70 years later, God gave her approximately 2,000 visions and dreams. The visions varied in length from less than a minute to nearly four hours. The knowledge and counsel received through these revelations she wrote out to be shared with others. Thus her special writings are accepted by Seventh-day Adventists as inspired, and their exceptional quality is recognized even by casual readers. As stated in Seventh-day Adventists Believe . . . , “The writings of Ellen White are not a substitute for Scripture. They cannot be placed on the same level. The Holy Scriptures stand alone, the unique standard by which her and all other writings must be judged and to which they must be subject” (Seventh-day Adventists Believe . . . , Ministerial Association, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Washington D.C., 1988, p. 227).

The best way to understand Ellen White is to start reading her books like Steps to Christ, Desire of Ages and the Great Controversy.

After reading more about Ellen G. White you can make up your own mind about her legitimacy. "tomassMac" (who posts above) apparently is not a Seventh-day Adventist and yet he is here on this website spreading falsehood. To be very clear: Ellen G. White never lost her faith in Jesus as tomassMac says she did. She never left the SDA church as tomassMac says. tomassMac says very little that is true about EGW even though he claims "Yes, I know everything about this Ellen". He appears to know nothing at all about her or is choosing to spread lies.

I firmly believe that Ellen G. White was a prophet of God. She was a very important figure in the early SDA church. Her books give amazing insight into God and the Scriptures. Her writings never contradict scripture but simply make it more clear and easy to understand.

You have made a great start by reading Steps to Christ. Keep reading, I'm sure you will continue to love it. -God bless!